Landscape of the Glacial Hills

Landscape of the Glacial Hills. Glaciers created lakes, rivers, and fertile soil for Kansas settlers. , Elevations of the Glacial Hills , As the glaciers receded and windblown silt covered their wake, a striking landscape of wooded river bluffs and rolling hills remained. These loess hills are characterized by their ability to maintain a steep face As a result, they comprise some of the state's steepest hills. Near White Cloud, loess can be over 100 feet thick, thinning out as one moves southwest, In some places along the Missouri, loess bluffs tower 200 feet above the river, including Lookout Mountain, one of the tallest bluffs in the area, found southeast of Iowa Point. , Four-State Lookout is the most notable Kansas bluff overlooking the Missouri, one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Geography. Famous for its spectacular views of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa from its 16-by-24-foot platform over the trees, its beauty has been recognized for decades. Today, the lookout has three pillars demarcating the "Four-State Lookout" and indicating the directions of the visible states. Interpretive signage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition has also been added. The overlook of four states, the river, the farmland, and the rolling hills truly makes this place a special stop along the Byway. , Glaciers and Hydrology , The glaciated region features large river systems, most of which were impacted by glaciers. Most waterways drain south to the Kansas River which flows to the Missouri, but a few streams still drain north towards the Nemaha River in Nebraska The larger glaciated region also has several natural and man made lakes including Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area., Prior to the Ice Age, northeast Kansas drained east towards St. Joseph, Missouri through the "Grand Valley." The first ice sheet to encroach on Kansas blocked the valley's outlet, filling it and forming the glacial Lake Atchison. When the water flooded the lake's banks, it created new drainage ways, today entrenched as major river valleys including the Big Blue River and the Missouri River downstream of Leavenworth. Over time, sediments and glacial deposits filled the initial valley, trapping its water in the ground. Today, areas along this valley have especially high yields of ground water because they pull from this trapped cache. This has proved integral to agriculture in the area., The second ice sheet advanced further south, blocking the outlets of major river valleys. Again, this caused glacial lakes to form, fill, and overflow. This time, the process eroded new spillways parallel to the Kansas and Missouri river valleys, including Mill Creek and the Wakarusa River. Large boulder beds near these valleys demonstrate the large volume of water that these new streams produced., The area's access to water and its fertile soil drew settlers who built communities such as Atchison, Leavenworth, Troy, and White Cloud.